My Recent Trip to OHSU
I recently went to OHSU to see my specialist Dr. Heinrich as well to attend this year G.C.R.F grant presentation to OHSU for gist research. I had a MRI and blood work and than waited until the next day to get the results. I was able to keep my focus on new friends and spending time with some old friends with Gist. We had a nice dinner with everyone and than breakfast the next morning with the research lab employees and doctors. I had my appointment at 3 pm so the day was long. When my husband and I got to see the doctors we were both ready to hear the news of my recent scan and blood work. Dr. Heinrich told me that all looked good with no new growth and that once again what my local radiologist had not known what he was seeing and what was thought to be growth was just the tumors breaking up and spreading out and dying. He said my blood work looked great as well but wanted me to have a iron test done due to a low iron count. He also wanted me to start having a CT scan due to it is better for his team to read the images from a CT scan and also to be able to see if another tumor might show up in pelvic as it has on other females with Gist. I ended up getting a CT scan the next day and another blood test for the iron. The drink has changed in the last 4 years and had no taste at all but since I do not have a stomach it was very hard to drink even half of that big cup of liquid. I only drank 3/4 of the cup of liquid and I can only hope that it was enough to get a good image of the whole area from abdominal to pelvic. I have not received the results yet from the the CT scan but my team at OHSU has not called me, so I will take it as good news. We also decided that Dr. Heinrich would be my primary doctor for my care but since I live 3 hours away that it would be best to have a oncologist near by who knows my case for my 3 month blood work, check up and if a emergency comes up. I have decided to keep my appointment with my oncologist in July and let him know my concerns on his treatment plan and to let him know that I will continue to see him every 3 months for blood work, check up and if needed for emergency but decided to rely on the experts for my scans and treatment. If he is not okay with my choice than I will seek some one in my area who will be on my team or just discuss with my family doctor about my situation to see if she might have some suggestion for me. I am feeling much more in control and at ease with my treatment and the best news is that I can go to a 6 month scan instead of every 3 months as I have been doing for the last 5 years. I can go into my summer break with no medical appointments and just enjoying my family and friends.
Posted on May 24th, 2010 by Tempest
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